Expressionism

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Expressionism was the only large-scale aesthetic trend in the greater context of international early modernism. It originated in the visual arts – as a counter-concept and highly subjectivist response to the object-centered aesthetics of naturalism and impressionism – and became a cultural revolution which extended into most areas of artistic and social life. Expressionism virtually dominated cultural life in Germany from around 1910 to 1925 and spilled over into many artistic developments abroad. Although groups of artists and writers quickly formed and dissolved and hundreds of manifestos were published, expressionism never had a unified program. There are literally as many different forms of expressionism as there were artists and writers participating in this cultural…

4094 words

Citation: Knapp, Gerhard P.. "Expressionism". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 January 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=369, accessed 19 March 2024.]

369 Expressionism 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.